


you bring all the color to my daydreams, you bring all the quiet to my life

by bumblebeecrown



Category: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff, Letters, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:28:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25658980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bumblebeecrown/pseuds/bumblebeecrown
Summary: And if Mori were to read it, well, he’d know. And maybe he already knows, but then Thaniel would know, from Mori’s response, or lack of one, and he’s long decided he’s better off not knowing.or, 3 times Thaniel didn't say "I love you" + 1 time he didn't have to
Relationships: Keita Mori & Six & Thaniel Steepleton, Keita Mori/Thaniel Steepleton
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54





	you bring all the color to my daydreams, you bring all the quiet to my life

**1.**

Thaniel wakes suddenly, hearing Six bustling around in her room. He glances at his watch - barely past three in the morning. It’s not uncommon for Six to be awake at odd hours, but Thaniel bites at the inside of his cheek in worry, before climbing out of bed and up the stairs.

When he knocks and sticks his head inside, asking if she’s all right, Six turns away, silently asking for space. She’s busy with a line of lightbulbs, obviously working on something. He feels at a bit of a loss, thinking that if Mori had gone up instead of him, she might have asked for his help. Thaniel heads downstairs to get her a glass of water, and then leaves her with a reassurance that she can wake him if she needs anything. “Or Mori, if...if you’d rather ask him.”

On his way back, he knocks on Mori’s door. Predictably, he opens it at once, as though he was waiting for it.

“Um, Six is upstairs working on something. Might be a sleepless night for her. I wondered if maybe you could check...maybe in a bit, if she’s still up then? Just, in case she needs anything.”

Mori’s eyes search his. Finally, he says, “She’ll likely finish her project by morning and fall asleep after breakfast. She’ll be fine.”

“Oh. Good,” says Thaniel, hesitating. Mori is good with her, in a way Thaniel feels he might never be.

“Did you want…?” says Mori, gesturing inside.

Thaniel flushes. “Oh. I told her she could come wake us if she needed. So, better not.”

Mori continues looking at him for a moment, a faint smile turning up the corner of his mouth. “Good night, Thaniel.”

“Good night, Keita.”

In the morning, Thaniel comes downstairs to find Mori and Six already up, working together on her project. She seems to have strung her light bulbs together with an old music box and added some complex clockwork along it. Mori speaks to her softly. “If you turn that gear counterclockwise, they’ll light up in time with the song. Look, you try it.”

Six does, letting out a sound of delight when it works as Mori described. Thaniel smiles, filled with fondness for the two of them. Mori notices him over Six’s head and smiles back. “Roku-chan, why don’t you show your father your invention.”

Six looks at Thaniel and beams as he comes forward to see. “Dad, look!” She turns back the gear and lets the melody play, a familiar tune -- the one he had taught Six to play on the piano. “Do you like it?” she says anxiously. “Mori said you’d like the music box. Say it’s good!”

“It’s wonderful, petal. Will you show me how it works?”

“Yes,” she says solemnly, and then is off explaining her creation, with Mori occasionally adding a word here and there. Thaniel meets Mori’s eyes. _Your idea?_ he intends to say, meaning not only the music box, but the opportunity for Thaniel to share in Six’s interests. Mori shrugs, looking pleased, and Thaniel is struck by how much he loves him. The thought surprises him, and he sits with it a moment. _I love you_ . Then he shakes his head, confused and happy, and lets a soft _thank you_ rise to the edge of speaking instead.

**2.**

They’re in Mori’s room tonight, everything awash in the deep reds and pale golds of his breathy sighs. Thaniel dips his head to kiss the colors off his mouth, moaning softly as Mori kisses back, open and raw and so giving. Thaniel suddenly, desperately needs to see his face, and breaks the kiss to gaze down at him.

Mori is beautiful in the warm light, golden skin flushed and lips parted. Thaniel tangles a hand in his hair, relishes the softness and the smell of his lemon soap. Mori reaches up and catches his hand, intertwining their fingers and meeting his eyes almost shyly. Waiting as Thaniel hangs on the edge of decision.

Thaniel wants _everything_. It’s hard not to, when they’re like this, Mori spread out open and inviting beneath him. He wants to feel his breath hot against his cheek, hold him close as they move together. He wants to taste every inch of his skin, worship him tenderly until he’s shaking. He wants to show him how hopelessly and stupidly he loves him. His heart twists at the thought, and he changes course, deliberately intending to trace his mouth down Mori’s body, stopping to take a nipple between his teeth before moving on, drinking him in with lips and tongue…

Mori gasps, arching into the phantom touch. “Thaniel,” he says, sounding wrecked. Seized by a kind of panicked need, Thaniel quickly moves to follow through with his thoughts. As thrilling as it is to make Mori squirm, he aches at the thought of him forgetting even a moment of this. He wants him to remember, to have him fully in every way. To have this, them, together and unreservedly in love.

They become a bit frantic, end up tangled close and grinding clumsily against each other. Through the haze of pleasure, Thaniel pulls back slightly to watch Mori. He’s overcome, feels the words rising to his lips. “Kei...I--”

But Mori kisses him, mouth sweet and demanding, and there’s not much talking after that. Afterwards, as they lie together, breathing quietly, Thaniel thinks with relief and a pang of regret that Mori won’t remember what he was about to say anyway.

**3.**

_Dear Keita,_

_Haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope everything is going all right. Six asks about you; I can’t tell whether she’s angry that you’ve gone, or just missing you. I caught her going through your workspace the other day, picking up tools and trinkets no doubt to work on while hiding away in her room. She noticed me before I said anything. “It’s not stealing,” she said, not even defensive. Just matter of fact. “He’s not here to use them anyway.” I wish I knew what was going on in her head sometimes. But I suppose she would tell me, in some way or another, if she wanted me to know. Maybe she_ is _telling me by not-stealing from you._

_Work is going fine, although Fanshaw seems more and more distressed every time I see him. Doesn’t help that the fog is getting quite heavy already; it makes it difficult to think, especially when I’m trying to compose. Might be coming down with something as well. Some days I get so lost in my thoughts that I can’t figure anything out. Except that I miss you. That’s always there._

_Please write me back. Even just a word to let me know you’re okay._

_Yours,_

_Thaniel_

He stares down at his words in the dim candlelight. His chest hurts, not just from coughing earlier. _I miss you_ . He sighs. Too close to what he actually wants to say. _I can’t stop thinking of you. I can’t breathe without you. I love you, I love you, I love you._

He doesn’t send it, obviously. If anyone else were to read it by mistake, it would be a dead giveaway. And if Mori were to read it, well, he’d know. And maybe he already knows, but then Thaniel would know, from Mori’s response, or lack of one, and he’s long decided he’s better off not knowing.

**+1**

They come back to Filigree Street when it’s all over. Thaniel is happy to see the fog has passed, and even happier to see Six run off to terrorize the Haverly boys. Everything is as they left it, Mori’s work table with its neatly arranged gears and tools, the piano in the corner. Thaniel winces a little at how out of tune it must be after months away.

He settles at the table as Mori makes tea. Mori’s different since losing his clairvoyance. He moves slowly, expecting some future memory to make itself known, and then becoming confused when it doesn’t come. When Thaniel had asked about it, he’d smiled. “It’s a little empty, but I feel...free. It got to be quite overwhelming, you know, all the remembering and forgetting.”

“Now you won’t know what I’m going to say, though.”

Mori’s smile widened, eyes crinkling in the way Thaniel so loved. “You’ve always surprised me, Thaniel. I look forward to it.”

Now, Mori joins him at the table, pouring the tea. It’s an odd sort of normalcy that they’d been close to, before, but hadn’t really touched, held back by the unspoken words between them.

“Six seems happy to be home,” says Mori.

Thaniel beams. _Home_. “Yes. Do you think she’s forgiven you for dying yet?”

“Oh, I suppose I’ll have to find her some new manuals to read before she’s okay with me.” Mori absently traces his fingers over his watch chain. Six had held on to it for much to the travel home, a quiet offer of forgiveness and affection. Thaniel watches, contentment spreading through him. He thinks he’d do anything to protect them. His family. He hopes he won’t have to, after everything they’ve just been through.

“What will you do now?” he asks, sipping his tea. Warm, like Mori’s gaze upon him. “I suppose watchmaking will be more of a surprise. Not knowing how your work will turn out.”

“Yes, I suppose it will. But I’ll enjoy it just the same. And you? Anything new in the works?”

Thaniel reached across the table, taking Mori’s hand in his. He’d felt the first stirrings of the notes in his mind the day they’d confessed their feelings. It had been taking form slowly since then, and his fingers itched to play them out, commit them to memory. “Yes. A symphony, I think.” _For you_ , he doesn’t say. For the first time, it’s not out of fear that he holds back the words, but because he wants it to be a surprise.

Mori’s eyes are twinkling, like he’s known what Thaniel was about to say. Thaniel quirks a brow at him questioningly.

“I may not be able to see the future anymore, but sometimes you are very easy to read,” Mori says, laughing. The sound is a bright, comforting bronze.

Thaniel smiles helplessly, squeezing his hand. He doesn’t say how Mori managed to miss his feelings for four years, despite him being easy to read. They have years unspooling lazily ahead of them, years of beautiful unknown memories to be made.

“Kei,” he says, feeling the words on the tip of his tongue. Letting them show on his face.

Mori’s eyes are warm and glowing as he draws circles on Thaniel’s hand. “I love you, too,” he says softly. Thaniel laughs, heart swelling. They’re home.

**Author's Note:**

> yup...those four years of pining y'all...listen i just want them to shower each other in words of affirmation post-pepperharrow. enough of this lack of communication, you love each other, idiots!
> 
> title from oh wonder - nothing but you


End file.
